Hello everyone, it's been a little while. I have, however, been keeping up my rewatch and even dragged my brother into it (and he's apparently never seen seasons 1-3a, only 3b-5bish when we both dropped out) so he's going to help me finish this mess. But I've been keeping ideas spinning, so this story is going to be good. I hope.
Anyways, thanks to LegacyReturns (Thanks for the review, that means a lot!), foxchick1 (I think there's a typo? But I'm glad you're looking forward to it), (Thank you!) and tuckpendleton87 (Thank you!) for reviewing, all 9 followers, 8 favorites and 63 readers!
So, this is a short chapter. But the next one is MUCH longer, so just let me write episode 7/chapter 7 and you'll be in for a treat. For now, this chapter starts introducing more character dynamics and some replacement pirates. For the record, not including Zoe/Hope, there are three OCs in this, two of which who I have never written before. And a bunch of others who I've also never written before, so this is an experiment for me. I hope it worked out and everyone seems in character? Let me know if there's any weird spots.
That's all I can think of...enjoy!
Chapter 2: Things Change and Stay the Same
It all began the night she returned home at last, her kingdom safe and open like it hadn't been in the past thirteen years. The queen stepped away from the festivities, needing some time to herself after the overwhelming swell of people celebrating her return, her sister's safety, and the opening of their kingdom.
Taking a deep breath, the queen smiled to herself as she walked through the quiet garden, the warm July air soothing against her skin, so used to the cold.
"A lovely night."
A voice she didn't recognize startled her so badly, ice spread out from under her feet as she turned.
"My apologies, my lady. I did not mean to startle you." The man before her apologized.
"Who are you?" The queen demanded, on edge and worried. She hadn't heard him come in, only that he was suddenly there without explanation.
The man simply smiled mysteriously before dipping into a deep bow.
"You may call me Emrys, Your Majesty."
Zoe wasn't surprised when, as she and Aislin walked to school the next day, she could hear footsteps running up behind her.
Without stopping or turning around, she took an extra bottle of water out of her backpack (given via Astrid, every morning with a smile) and chucked it behind her head.
Sure enough, a second later, she heard the satisfying sound of her best friend groaning in exaggerated pain.
"Damn, Zo, you're gonna take my eye out one of these days!" Einri groaned, catching up to her and Aislin easily, opening the water bottle she threw at him and taking a generous drink.
"You say that every morning, Einri, and she nails you every time." Einri's cousin, Leandra, grinned as joined Aislin's side, waving quickly as her younger brother, Timothy, ran off towards the middle school.
"And someday she will." Einri insisted, running a hand through his floppy brown hair.
"Yeah, right. My aim is perfect." Zoe scoffed, exaggeratedly flipping her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder.
"As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Aislin smiled.
"Aislin, you traitor." Einri pouted. Aislin just smiled, the picture of innocence.
As they walked past the elementary school, Zoe looked over to see if she could spot any of her kids. Sure enough, she was able to spot Paige, Olivia, and Sam, waving at them as she spotted each of them. Then her eyes landed on Henry and-
His birth mother was walking beside the ten year old boy. Almost against her will, Zoe stopped and stared at the two of them, specifically at the woman (she never got her name…). Something...something about her made Zoe feel as if her skin was tingling, made her eyes itch.
A light touch on her elbow drew her attention back to her friends.
"Hey, you alright?" Einri asked, sounding concerned. His eyes were big and worried, and Zoe found herself grateful that this dork was her best friend.
"Yeah...I'm good." Zoe nodded.
"Good." Einri smiled before it took on a mischievous curl his mother said came from his uncle (his father said it was all his mother's). "For a second there, I thought a changeling replaced my best friend."
"Shut up, you dork!" Zoe laughed as she pushed his shoulder, falling into step with him once again. "Changelings and fairies don't exist, and you know it."
"Mark my words, you'll be eating those words someday." Einri swore.
"When we do, I'll give you fifty bucks." Leandra scoffed good-naturedly.
"Great! I look forward to that!" Einri grinned brightly.
"As they say, don't count your chickens before they hatch." Aislin shook her head before she took off running. "Come on, we're gonna be late!"
"You're such a freshman!" Einri groaned dramatically.
"Says the boy who was exactly the same at her age!" Zoe grinned as she and Leandra fell behind Aislin, both running and forcing Einri to follow behind them at the same pace.
Yeah, this was a normal day in Storybrooke. And yet...something felt different about it, but she couldn't say what.
The day Hope left home for the first time, she was nervous, admittedly. She'd never left the kingdom much, let alone the continent.
But she trusted her father, and so she made the journey with the ship charted to escort her.
"Welcome aboard, milady." The captain welcomed her with a sarcastic, overly dramatic bow. His smile was wide and toothy, and he looked less than competent, yet it was obvious from the deference paid to him that he was in charge...to a point.
"Thank you, Captain…" Hope trailed off. Unfortunately, her father hadn't given her the captain's name, cryptic man he is.
"Sparrow, Captain Jack Sparrow, Highness." The captain, Jack, grinned. He gently grabbed her hand then and laid a dramatic kiss on her knuckles.
"Of course, Captain Sparrow." Hope nodded, not sure how to react.
"Alright, enough of that." A brown haired woman rolled her eyes as she pushed Jack away from the princess. "Excuse him, Your Highness, he had a bit too much to drink last night."
"Will he be alright?" Hope asked, now growing more concerned. What kind of ship did her father charter for her?!
"He'll be just fine." Another woman, this one with black hair, smiled as she stepped forward. "You just relax and enjoy the trip, Your Highness. If you need anything, just call out for Ro, that's me, or Lizzie here."
"Of course." The princess nodded, still feeling a bit on edge.
After that, she made her way to the side of the ship, staying out of the way as a veritable madness of noise grew as the ship prepared to launch.
Shortly after they finally set off, Hope found herself staying near the side, the hood of her clock pulled up for warmth, when a boy settled beside her. He was around her age, maybe a couple years old, with floppy brown hair.
"You're not scared, are you?" The boy asked with a grin.
"Of what?" Hope asked, curious.
"The ghosts, of course!" The boy declared. "Legends say a ghost ship haunts these waters, the Flying Dutchman himself!"
"I think I can take any ghosts." Hope smirked, twisting her fingers the slightest bit. No magic escaped, but it gave her a mystical air, which the boy seemed to appreciate as he laughed.
"Oh, I like you! My cousins don't ever play along with me, and they're younger!" The boy grinned before he held a hand out to her. "I'm Henry Turner, Hank for short."
"I'm Hope, but I'm guessing you already knew that." Hope smiled as she took the boy, Hank's, hand in her own.
"You could say that." Hank chuckled as he released her hand after gently kissing her knuckles, a perfect gentleman.
"He's not joking about the ghosts though." A girl's voice cut in and Hope turned to see a blonde girl who looked as if she were related to Hank standing on her other side now. "Hank's dad's captain of the Flying Dutchman, after all."
"Adira!" Hank groaned. "You always take the fun out of it!"
"I confirm your crazy theory, and this is how you act?" Adira scoffed. "You sure you're Dad's nephew?"
"Dad?" Hope repeated, curious.
"Oh, yeah, my dad's the captain." Adira explained. "Not like it means much, not with our occupation."
"Occupation?" The princess questioned.
"We're pirates, princess!" A young boy, with black hair and Adira's features, grinned as he jumped down to land right in front of Hope, letting out a long 'arrrrrrrrr!' as he did so.
"Drew!" Adira and Lizzie yelled in unison.
"Now, Drew, you know that's not right." Ro said with a sigh as she stepped closer and bent down to Drew's level. Then a grin that was identical to Hank's grew on her face as she tickled the boy, Drew. "Pirates are much too cool to say 'arrrr'!"
As chaos began to climb even higher on the ship, and the princess began to catalogue just how obvious it was that they were pirates in the first place, she began to wonder just what the hell her father had gotten her into.
To say the day got crazier from there was an...understatement. And Zoe only learned most of this through the town gossip.
Most, meaning that she was witness to at least part of it.
The town was all over it as soon as they heard the news, Henry's birth mother (Emma Swan...she finally knew her name) had been arrested for stealing Henry's file from Archie, only for Mary Margaret to bail her out of jail.
Then the rumors started spinning about Emma striking back at the mayor, everything slowly escalating to a full on war. Zoe wasn't sure she wanted to know how this would end…
Then, at 5 pm, her phone rang.
"Hello?" She answered, answering without thinking.
"Zoe?" Henry's shaky voice answered over the phone and, instantly, Zoe sat up, her eyes wide in alarm. She'd given all the kids in his class her number, just in case they needed someone closer to their age to talk to.
She never imagined it ever being used.
"Henry? What's wrong?" She asked, worry filling her voice. Aislin looked up from her desk, worry in her blue eyes.
"M-my birth mom...she said she thinks I'm crazy…" Henry said, his voice still shaking. "She thinks everything I told her about the curse is crazy...I'm not crazy…"
"No, Henry, of course, you're not." Zoe soothed, cradling the phone in both hands, as if that would help her get closer. "Henry, I know about the curse, I believe you. Does that make me crazy too?"
"No…"
"That's right, no. So take a deep breath, okay? You have to see Archie soon, I'm sure he'll listen to you."
"He doesn't believe me either."
"And that's their fault. Someday, they'll all see you were right, Henry. Someday. So you just keep working, okay?" Zoe whispered.
"Alright...thanks, Zoe. I gotta go." Henry whispered, sounding at least slightly more stable now.
"Alright, I'll see you, bud." Zoe smiled slightly before she hung up. She then proceeded to flop onto her back against her bed and let out a groan.
Zoe remembered the first day Henry had brought up his book of fairy tales to her. He'd even shown her the pictures of the character he thought she was, a princess named Hope, but that was all Zoe, personally, knew.
Honestly, she wasn't sure where she stood on this whole 'curse' situation, but...she would never tell Henry to stop imagining things. He was so creative, and his face lit up whenever he talked about the book. She refused, refused, to be the one to take that away from him.
"Is Henry okay?" Aislin asked, sounding worried still.
"He's fine, he's safe, just...overheard his birth mom call him crazy." Zoe sighed, completely agreeing as the other blonde winced. "I swear, if this escalates even more, Henry's not gonna come out unscathed. None of us are."
"You talk like you have experience fighting wars." Aislin teased.
"Nah, just read too many books." Zoe grinned as she pushed herself up again. "But I'm serious, this could get really ugly."
"We'll just have to wait and see what happens." Aislin shrugged, picking her homework back up and returning to her work. "Besides, I have a feeling we'll be okay."
"Oh really? And why's that?" Zoe prompted, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
Aislin only smiled, pulling her skull patterned beanie down lower over her brow, making her look ridiculously mysterious.
"Because everything works out how it should." Aislin declared, as if it were some kind of prophecy.
For all Zoe knew, it was. But she smiled and accepted her roommate's words, returning to her own homework.
After all, she was spending the day at the hospital tomorrow with the kids, doing volunteer work, and she'd need all her mental capacities for that.
And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
In case it wasn't obvious, the replacement pirates are from Pirates of the Caribbean. For the record, relationships for those characters are based off my incomplete fic for it (where you can find just a couple chapters featuring Ro!). So, Ro, Adira/Leandra and Drew/Timothy are the three OCs and Lizzie is Elizabeth Swann. And yes, ships are Will/Ro and Jack/Elizabeth. I should probably get back to that fic someday...eh, eventually.
Anyways! More hints to Aislin! Her episode, because yes, most of these kids are getting episodes, is further down the line, so she'll be a side character for now, but I'm very fond of her. Also very fond of Einri, who's somehow started becoming a secondary protagonist. I didn't expect that, honestly.
But yes, feel free to guess the identity of Aislin and Kris from chapter 1, though eventually they will be revealed.
I think that's everything...I'll be back in some time! Bye!